You love historical atmosphere? Tricky murder cases? And would you like more toughness than in Sherlock Holmes? Then you should check out Amazon Prime.
Victorian murder investigations can be beautifully ornate, gold-leafed and highly intellectual. With a steaming cup of tea by the crackling fireplace and a nicely stuffed pipe. That would be the universe of the classic Sherlock Holmes, who occasionally gets his hands dirty but always returns to the well-kept Baker Street in the end.
But what if we followed realistic police officers? In the soot-smeared, hard-to-regulate East End of London, where King Cholera and criminal gangs rule? Then we would be right in the middle of the investigators’ precinct in Ripper Street. You can currently stream all five seasons of this unsparing but unforgettably gripping historical crime series on Amazon Prime.
In Ripper Street, an investigator and his unusual team try to protect London’s citizens
Whitechapel, London, late 19th century. One of the city’s most diverse and sprawling neighborhoods is slowly emerging from its state of shock. Until half a year ago, the grotesquely inhumane series of murders by the infamous Jack the Ripper had the population in a state of shock. But just because a notable criminal has disappeared without a trace does not mean that peace has returned. Quite the opposite.
The representatives of the Metropolitan Police are under constant pressure to get a grip on the criminal chaos in the dirty neighborhoods and to prevent another Ripper from emerging. Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) in particular is up all night. Not least because he is searching for his missing little daughter like a man possessed.
The beast that London has become gives Reid and his sergeant Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) as well as the unconventional American coroner Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) no peace. Religious fanatics, drug ring leaders, revolutionary leaders and ruthless upper-class individuals with their own goals keep the investigators deadly busy.
Ripper Street on Amazon Prime shows London from its rawest, dirtiest side and captivates with every episode.
You would never want to live in the world of Ripper Street. But after the first episode, you will be hooked and want to dive into it again and again. The set, set and costume design effortlessly catapults us into the 19th century, and discovering all the details is a real pleasure.
Furthermore, this backdrop creates the necessary atmosphere that makes all the intricate, sometimes bestial, sometimes coldly calculated murders, attacks and conspiracies so exciting. Ripper Street is more than just your typical crime series with a case-of-the-week. It offers insights into high-tech laboratory investigations, into the depths of human depravity and the cruelty of an era.
The characters, especially Flynn’s Bennet Drake and Rothenberg’s Homer Jackson, grow painfully close to your heart. This can quickly lead to a kind of love-hate relationship with the series, a toxic love affair in which our hearts are broken again and again – but we just can’t get enough of the thrill of the nerve-wracking suspense and adrenaline.
If you have a penchant for the Victorian era and like it harder than the usual Sherlock Holmes case, you should definitely take a look at Ripper Street on Amazon Prime.
